Floor stripping machines (such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,504,093; 5,002,629; 5,037,160; 5,082,330; 5,197,784; 5,772,284) are used to strip carpet, tile and other floor coverings from floors. They generally use a scraping blade with a maximum length of 27 inches, so that the blade can pass through a standard doorway (28 inches). Sufficient pressure per square inch must be exerted upon the scraping blade in order to remove the floor covering. The pressure requirements vary with the type of floor covering and its mode of attachment. For example, with ceramic tile that is attached to a floor with adhesive, it is often necessary to go to a small blade in order to achieve sufficient pressure per square inch upon the scraping blade.
When the floor stripping machines are in operation, the scraping blades must frequently be replaced due to wear. In addition, when smaller blades are being used to increase the blade pressure per square inch, the positioning of the scraping blade must be adjusted between a central position and an offset position in which the scraping blade is offset to the left or right. The central position is used in open areas. The offset position is used near walls or obstructions.
The scraping blades are generally secured by bolts to a blade mounting assembly on the floor stripping machines. U.S. Pat. No. 4,365,843, filed by Grasse, illustrates and describes such a blade holder. The blade mounting assembly of the Grasse reference has a blade mounting head with outwardly projecting flanges. The scraping blade is clamped by fasteners between a blade holder plate and the flanges. While the blade mounting assembly of Grasse holds the scraping blade securely it is time consuming to replace or change the position of the scraping blade.